Cooperative segregation and the culture of co-existence at an integrated religious shrine

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the making and unmaking of a shared shrine culture at an integrated religious site in north India, known for the entanglement of Hindu and Islamic religious figures. In particular, what prompts Hindu devotees to protect ‘the otherness’ of two Muslim saints from the attacks of right-wing Hindus who, after recent political developments in India, began to challenge the religious others’ presence next to Hindu sacred figures, Shiva and Hanuman. Following Carla Bellamy, it is shown that Muslim saints represent power ready to be used and harnessed by Hindus if they are willing to transcend their religious boundaries, which in turn, following Levinas, creates an ethics of responsibility for ‘the other’ demanding protection of the Muslim saints’ ontological being and their symbolism of devotion and unique power among Hindus. Hindu devotees, it is argued, exercise cooperative segregation and emphasize the importance of distinction to save the religious culture associated with the two Muslim saints and preserve the symbolism of otherness.